Wondering if anyone has encountered this- My ferret Slinky (5 year old, male, albino) has been having chronic issues with diarrhea and I'm at my wit's end. Nov 2008- I took him to the vet for vomiting and diarrhea. The vet said the level of clostridium was too high, and he was given an antibiotic and probiotic which cleared everything up for awhile. Since then he has reoccurring diarrhea- same diagnosis and treatment with same results. The diarrhea clears up for a bit (a few days, a week, maybe a month), then comes back. At 1st he was given amoxicillin, then clavamox. Friday evening, Sept 18, Slinky began vomiting and could not stop. Then the diarrhea started. We rushed him to an emergency vet where he stayed overnight on an IV. He was dehydrated and his body temp was low. Blood tests showed that he wasn't expelling CO2 properly. The ER Vet said that could be b/c of shallow breathing (since he was in pain) or pneumonia, lymphoma, fluid on lungs- any # of things, but he would need an x-ray to be able to tell. Saturday morning I took him to his regular vet. X-rays and more blood tests were run. Everything came back fine- no blockages, no tumors, no signs of cancer, pneumonia, etc. His BW was back to normal. No one was able to say why he started vomiting, but he was put on metronidazole and probiotics. By Saturday afternoon, Slinky was running around as though he had never been sick. We finished up with the metronidazole this past Saturday morning (Sept 26), and yesterday the loose stools were back. I called my vet, and Slinky will have to take more antibiotics again. This is the 8th time since Nov 2008 that I have had to put him on antibiotics. I asked the vet why this keeps reoccurring and she doesn't know but is looking into it. I keep his toys clean, and Slinky shares his space and food with 3 other ferrets who have not had any problems. Slinky also takes .3 ml of prednisone for allergies (to what, I have no idea. His skin just gets very dry and itchy and the vet said he appeared to be allergic to something). He has been tested for adrenal and insulinoma- both came back negative. So- has anyone else dealt with this? Any suggestions, recommendations, ideas, thoughts? Thank you, Tara Elmore [Posted in FML 6471]